The old Grand Trunk line is now 42 miles you can bike

Trains stopped running between Owosso and Ionia years ago, but the corridor is still doing work. The Fred Meijer Clinton-Ionia-Shiawassee Trail now carries people on foot and on bikes for 42 miles across mid-Michigan, including a long stretch through Clinton County.

It threads the county’s railroad towns the way the trains once did: Ovid on the east, then St. Johns, then Fowler to the west before the trail reaches Pewamo and Ionia County. The route was completed in 2015. Michigan DNR says it begins at Prairie Creek bridge east of Ionia and ends at Smith Road west of Owosso, with a signed bike route continuing into downtown Owosso.

The surface changes with the setting. The town sections through Muir, Pewamo, Fowler, St. Johns, and Ovid are paved; rural sections are crushed limestone. That makes the official map worth checking before you choose tires, distance, or a starting point.

MDOT owns the corridor, and Michigan DNR operates and maintains it. For a simple first trip, start in one of the paved town sections and ride to the next community. You still get the old railroad rhythm without committing to all 42 miles.